Sanitary napkin



April 28, 1970 L. A. HENDRICKS 3,503,549

SANITARY NAPKIN Filed Dec. 26, 1968 FIG} G" ":1

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LAUREL A.HENDRICKS FIG.4 BY 1 ATTORNEY United States Patent M 3,508,549 SANITARY NAPKIN Laurel A. Hendricks, P.0. Box 943, Palo Alto, Calif. 92602 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 548,818, May 2, 1966. This application Dec. 26, 1968, Ser. No. 787,057

Int. Cl. A61f 13/16 US. Cl. 128290 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sanitary napkin having adhesive tab ends for securing the napkin to an undergarment of a wearer so that the napkin is comfortable for the wearer and does not damage the undergarment, and the napkin is thereby secured in position. A liquid repellant layer in the napkin is disposed between a pad and -a body contact layer to prevent liquid from reaching the undergarment. The laminations of the napkin constitute an integral unit with the tabs for readily adhesively securing the napkin to an undergarment in a desired body position for the comfort of the wearer. The layers that extend out to form the tab ends are also folded back to form an overlapping terminal end.

The present invention relates in general to sanitary napkins, and more particularly to a sanitary napkin detachably secured to a wearers undergarment.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 548,818, now US. Patent No. 3,454,008 filed on May 2, 1966, for Sanitary Napkin.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sanitary napkin that can be worn without the employment of sanitary belts or similar devices.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sanitary napkin which is less conspicious when worn.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sanitary napkin which is more moisture proof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sanitary napkin that is more comfortable to the wearer.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sanitary napkin in which the force applied to the body for securing the napkin in place has more uniform distribution.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the sanitary napkin embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the sanitary napkin taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary exploded view of the sanitary napkin.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the sanitary napkin taken along line 44 of FIG. 1.

Illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 is the sanitary napkin of the present invention which is caused to adhere to an inner surface of a panty or other suitable undergarment and is adapted to contact the body of a woman surrounding the vaginal area to absorb the discharge of the menses during menstrual period.

The sanitary napkin 10 of the present invention comprises a pad 11 of highly absorbent material, such as cotton gauze and tissue. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sanitary napkin 10 is of laminated construction and comprises an outer sheet 13 of relatively thin, absorbing, soft, flexible material, such as cotton gauze. The sheet 13 extends beyond the pad 11 at each end thereof to form a tab section 13a and a tab section 1311 and 3,508,549 Patented Apr. 28, 1970 then continues to provide a complete enclosure for the sanitary napkin 10. The tab section 13b is slightly longer than the tab section 13a. The absorbent gauze is sufficiently soft so as to be comfortable to the wearer and not irritate the skin, and yet it is sufiiciently strong so as not to wear away with contact. It is the sheet 13 of absorbent gauze that contacts the body of the woman using the sanitary napkin 10 and is disposed on the body contact side of the pad 11, and that portion thereof may be referred to as the body contact layer 13c. The sheet 13 also extends beyond each side of the pad 11 a distance greater than the depth of the pad 11. In addition thereto, the sheet 13 extends along the garment contact side of the sanitary napkin 10 and that portion thereof may be referred to as the undergarment contact layer 13d.

On the opposite side of the pad 11 or on the garment side of the pad 11 is disposed a layer 15 of suitable absorbent material, such as tissue paper, which serves as a filler layer for the laminated construction of the sanitary napkin 10. The filler layer 15, which is disposed inwardly of the sheet 13, extends beyond each end of the pad 11 and is disposed adjacent to the pad 11. The filler absorbent layer 15, which terminates along the side edges of the pad 11, comprises an absorbent, flexible, relatively thin tissue material. The tissue filler absorbent material 15 is very durable and yet highly absorbent.

Juxtaposed between the filler absorbent layer 15 and the undergarment layer 13d is a liquid repellent or moisture proof sheet 16 of vinyl or polyethylene material that retains the liquid or menses discharge within the sanitary napkin 10 and prevents the same from soiling the undergarments of the wearer of the sanitary napkin 10. The moisture repellant sheet 16 is sufficiently large to extend the full length of the filler layer 15 and terminates in the vicinity of the ends of the pad 11 (FIG. 2). The sheet 16 is disposed between the layer 15 and the undergarment contact layer 13d in the form of double layers, encompassing the tab ends of the layer 15. In addition thereto, the sheet 16 is fused directly to the undergarment contact layer 13d of the sheet 13 and the layer 15.

Contiguous with the liquid repellant sheet 16 is the undergarment contact layer 13d of the sheet 13. At the ends of the undergarment contact layer 13d, the sheet 13 includes a tab section 13a and a tab section 13) similar to the tab sections 13a and 13b, respectively, of the body contact layer 130.

Each end of the sanitary napkin 10 includes a tab, such as tabs 25 and 26. The tabs 25 and 26 have their edges directed toward the longitudinal centerline of the sanitary napkin 10 (FIG. 1), each end of which is cut straight and slightly tapered. The tab 26 is slightly longer than the tab 25.

Thus, when the sanitary napkin 10 is worn, the tab 25 extends forwardly of the body of the user and the tab 26 extends rearwardly of the body of the user. The tabs 25 and 26 are relatively thin and flexible, and yet strong, and are formed by fusing together the confronting tab end sections. More specifically, the tab 25 is formed by heat pressure fusing or bonding of the tab ends 13a and 132 of the sheet 13 with the double layer tab ends of the sheet 16 and the tab end of the layer 15. The tab ends of the sheet 16 are between the tab end 13a and the tab end of layer 15. The tab 26 is formed by heat pressure fusing or bonding of the tab ends 13b and 13 of the sheet 13 with the double layer tab ends or the sheet 16 and the tab end of the layer 15. The tab ends of the sheet 16 are between the tab end 13b and the tab end of the layer 15.

It is to be observed that the moisture repellant layer 16 extends out to form the tab ends and also is folded to double back so as to overlap the terminal ends of the filler layer 15. Thus, there is a gradual tapering from the bulk portion of the napkin, which provides a gradual transition from the bulk of the napkin tapering to the thinner laminated tab ends of the napkin to which adhesive is applied. Strips 30 of adhesive material, which have a non-adhesive backing thereon, are secured to the layer 13d of the sheet 13 along the entire edges of the tabs 25 and 26 (FIG. 1). When the non-adhesive paper backing is removed from the adhesive strips 30, the adhesive strips 30 are caused to adhere to the inner surface of the panty or other suitable undergarment so as to enable the absorbent layer 130 of the sheet 13 to contact the body of the woman wearing the panty to surround the vaginal area ofthe user thereof. The adhesive employed does not tear the undergarment.

In the use of'the sanitary napkin 10 of the present invention, the adhesive strips 30 have the non-adhesive paper backing thereon removed to expose the adhesive surface thereof. Thereupon the sanitary napkin 10 is attached to the inner surface of the panty or other suitable undergarment by causing the adhesive strips 30 to adhere to the panty. The sanitary napkin 10 is placed on the panty so that the absorbent layer 13c contacts the body of the woman wearing the panty so as to surround the vaginal area of the user thereof. In so doing, the tab 25 extends forwardly of the body of the user and the tab 26 extends rearwardly of the body of the user.

It is to be understood that modifications and variations of the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A sanitary napkin comprising a pad, a body contact layer of absorbent material disposed on one side of said pad, a garment contact layer disposed on another side of said pad, a layer of liquid repellant material disposed between said pad and said garment contact layer, said garment contact layer being arranged to extend beyond the ends of said pad, said liquid repellant layer being arranged to extend beyond the ends of said pad and folded back for projecting toward the central portion of said pad, and adhesive means on that portion of said garment contact layer extending beyond said pad for causing said sanitary napkin to adhere to a garment.

2. A sanitary napkin as claimed in claim 1 wherein said layers are secured to said liquid repellant layer at the portions thereof extending beyond said pad.

3. A sanitary napkin as claimed in claim 1 wherein said layers are secured to a filler layer disposed between said pad and said body contact layer at the portions thereof extending beyond said pad.

4. A sanitary napkin as claimed in claim 2 wherein said layers are secured to a filler layer disposed between said pad and said body contact layer at the portions thereof extending beyond said pad.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,295,016 9/1942 Scribner 128-290 2,838,048 6/1958 Kowalski 128-290 2,896,626 7/1959 Voigtman 128-290 3,044,467 7/1962 Campau 128-290 3,294,090 12/1966 Younger 128-290 3,342,184 9/1967 Joa 128-290 CHARLES F. ROSENBAUM, Primary Examiner 

